Abstract
Oxytocin (OT) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) are produced in the brain. Due to their importance in modulating social behaviour, these two neuropepetides have been extensively studied in captivity, yet few data are available from the field. Here we report the findings from an immunohistochemistry study, where we measured density of OT and AVP in different brain nuclei of wild African striped mice (Rhabdomys pumilio). Striped mice are socially flexible with both sexes being able to follow alternative reproductive tactics. Adult males can remain natally philopatric, or they can disperse and live solitarily as roamers or immigrate into a group and become breeders. Previous studies in captivity found no differences between solitary and group-living striped mice in AVPR1a expression, but solitary males had higher irAVP concentrations in the paraventricular nucleus and BNST. In the present study we tested whether the results obtained from captive studies could be replicated in the wild. We collected brains from 5 breeders, 9 philopatrics, and 3 roamers from a field site in South Africa and transported them to the USA for immunohistochemistry. Our results showed that roamers have higher irAVP concentrations in the BNST than philopatrics, which leads us to predict for future experimental studies that roamers will be able to increase AVP secretion in the brain when becoming group-living.
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Acknowledgments
We thank the Department of Tourism, Environment and Conservation of the Northern Cape for research permits, and the manager and staff of the Goegap Nature Reserve for their support. This study was made possible by the administrative and technical support of the Succulent Karoo Research Station (registered South African NPO 122-134), at which field site the data were collected. For help in the field, we thank C.H. Yuen (Research Station Manager). We are thankful to C.S. Carter for important comments. Funding was provided by the Swiss National Science Foundation (31003A-135770/1). Animal ethical clearance was provided by the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa (No. 2004/87/2A, 2005/82/4, and 2006/3/03).
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Schoepf, I., Kenkel, W. & Schradin, C. Arginine vasopressin in brains of free ranging striped mouse males following alternative reproductive tactics. J Ethol 33, 235–242 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-015-0436-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-015-0436-6